Comparison

Light Creations vs variant

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Light Creations

Create dynamic 3D light sculptures from simple line drawings. Accelerate animations with music and explore five unique visual themes. Save and share your mesmerizing creations.

Highlights
  • Create 3D light sculptures
  • Dynamic animation from drawn lines
  • Music-reactive visuals
  • Five unique visual themes
  • Screenshot capture
  • Universal app support
Features
Read full description

Light Creations allows you to create amazing light sculptures and structures. You provide the seed for the creation by drawing an arbitrary line, e.g., straight, curved, or long and winded, and enjoy how Light Creations transforms this seed into a dynamic piece of 3D art. Accelerate the animation by humming, singing or playing music and dive deep into a relaxing journey through a world of light. Observe the mesmerizing dynamics of the evolving art and create screenshots with ease just by tapping an icon. The screenshots are conveniently saved into your photo album for further processing and sharing. Light Creations provides five themes, each transforming the initial seed in a different way: Galaxy - Creates light sculptures built out of many light particles. Light Ocean - Creates light sculptures above an ocean of light. Centered Lines - Creates symmetrical light structures. Warped Lines - Creates a work of art where the initial seed is warped in space resulting in fractal like creations. MultiDraw - The initial line is mirrored several times and warped in space already while drawing. Tip: use the pinch gesture to emphasize the amazing micro and macro structures. - Universal App for iPad, iPhone, iPod. - Retina Display support. - There are no ads or in-app purchases in Light Creations. Customer Comments: ***** Wow!!!! "This is the most beautiful and trippy app I have on my iPad (and I have about 20). Listen to some ambient electronica or psychedelia and ascend to a higher plain without chemical assistance." ***** AWESOME! "Love it, mesmerizing & beautiful ! Save your creations & share. Recommend," ***** Great app for creative control "I typically don't write reviews, but these visuals need a voice! They are simply in a league of their own. The future of intuitive easy to use visuals has arrived! [...] Congratulations to the developer for this marvelous work of art! " ***** Totally brilliant "This is like having your own personal firework display. Congrats to the app maker." ***** Grandiose

About

variant

This app generates ever-changing music and imagery based on user input and randomness. Experience a unique audiovisual artwork that evolves with every interaction, enhanced by 3D Touch pressure sensitivity.

Highlights
  • Generative audiovisual artwork
  • Evolving music and imagery
  • 3D Touch pressure sensitivity
  • Multi-finger interaction
  • Interactive controls
  • Screenshot functionality
Features
Read full description

variant:cascade is an audiovisual artwork that creates beautiful, ever-changing music and imagery. The app combines user input and built-in randomness to create images and music that will continually change, grow and evolve, offering a new and different experience every time. For users of all ages, variant:cascade is a chance to explore and experience a unique work of generative art. variant:cascade was specifically designed to take advantage of the 3D Touch sensor on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus: increased pressure on the phone’s screen will intensify and transform the visual and musical experience. To interact with variant:cascade, draw a line with your finger on the screen and the visuals will respond to your drawing. Pressing more deeply on the 3D Touch screen will change the width and speed of the visuals as well as transform the music. (Users on devices without 3D Touch can vary how much of their finger touches the screen to trigger this effect.) You can use multiple fingers to interact with variant:cascade, and each will independently influence the visuals and music. You can view the indeterminate audio engine by tapping the dot in the lower right. The display shows the different elements of the musical composition as they are loaded by the engine through a combination of chance and user input. The center button opens a menu of settings for the app, and the button to the right allows you to take screenshots of the visuals, automatically saving them to your photo library. The Variant apps are a new series of generative audiovisual artworks from Interval Studios featuring visuals by Joshue Ott and music by Kenneth Kirschner. Each Variant features a unique visual composition by Ott based on his superDraw visual performance software, as well as a new indeterminate musical composition by Kirschner. Each Variant app also offers a different set of interactive controls for the user, ranging from the ability to subtly influence the development of the piece to total interactive control over both visuals and sound. All of the Variants are generative artworks: through a varying combination of built-in randomness and user input, each Variant will continually grow and evolve over time without ever directly repeating itself either visually or musically, offering the user an ever-changing, ever-evolving audiovisual experience.

Screenshots

Light Creations4 screens
variant4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: variant at Free against Light Creations's $2.99. variant also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.1) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 5 months). Light Creations's advantage is ratings volume (14 vs 3). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

variant is free to download; Light Creations costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

variant holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Light Creations's written reviews are positive against 100% of variant's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Light Creations ships an update every 5 months, variant every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Light Creations versus variant: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLight Creationsvariant
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.1 (14 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings14 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size17 MB63 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJoachim WolfframInterval Studios

Customer experience

Light Creations

All ratings14 ratings
Positive78.6%
Neutral7.1%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive76.5%
Neutral5.9%
Negative17.6%

variant

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Light Creations

No in-app purchases

None

variant

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Light Creations free?
Light Creations costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is variant free?
variant is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Light Creations or variant?
variant is rated higher. Light Creations averages 4.1 out of 5 from 14 ratings, while variant averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Light Creations or variant have ads?
Neither Light Creations nor variant shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Light Creations or variant?
Light Creations ships an update every 5 months, and variant every 3 weeks. Most recently, Light Creations was updated on September 21, 2026 and variant on September 20, 2026.

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